Case Number 18958

SPARTACUS (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

They trained him to kill for their pleasure...but they trained him a little
too well.

Opening Statement

"And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I
don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to
ourselves."

Facts of the Case

Spartacus (Kirk Douglas, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) has been a
slave ever since his childhood. After he bites a Roman soldier, Spartacus is
sentenced to death by starvation, but his life is saved by Lentulus Batiatus
(Peter Ustinov, Lorenzo's Oil), a man looking for healthy slaves to
participate in gladiatorial games. Spartacus spends many long, hard months
training to enter the arena and battle to the death, though he dreads the
prospect of actually having to kill one of his fellow slaves. During this time,
he meets and befriends a female slave named Varinia (Jean Simmons, Great
Expectations), though their interactions are understandably limited.

After being forced to participate in a brutal conflict for the entertainment
of the powerful Crassus (Laurence Olivier, The Boys From Brazil),
Spartacus determines to take action, leading the slaves in a violent uprising.
The gladiators successfully escape from their captors, taking over various
territories and gathering recruits as they continue their rebellion. Meanwhile,
back in Rome, Senator Sempronius Gracchus (Charles Laughton, The Hunchback of
Notre Dame) cunningly creates a plot that he hopes will simultaneously crush
the rebellion and allow his friend Julius Caesar (John Gavin, Psycho) to
come to power. Do Spartacus and his fellow former slaves stand a chance against
the overwhelming might of the Roman army?

The Evidence

Spartacus wasn't the film that most involved wanted it to be.
Blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo intended it to be a statement on the
treatment of supposed Communist sympathizers in Hollywood. Director Stanley
Kubrick thought the screenplay featured too much "stupid moralizing,"
but had no control over the script. Star Kirk Douglas had hoped the movie would
parallel the historical struggles of the Jewish people. There were endless
stories of conflict on the set, as rumors came out that some of the key actors
(particularly Tony Curtis) were very unhappy while working on the film. Turmoil,
conflict, and creative conflicts are often warning signs of a bad film, but
somehow Spartacus survived the ordeal and emerged as a satisfying epic. I
suspect that it might have been a stronger film if Kubrick had more creative
control, but personally I find Spartacus every bit as satisfying as
heralded epics like The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (and even
more mature in terms of the subject matter it deals with).

In fact, Douglas admitted that part of his motivation in making
Spartacus was wanting to match the spectacle of Ben-Hur, as he had
been turned down for the title role in that film. While Spartacus does
indeed offer some pretty impressive scenes of epic grandeur, it's often
correctly referred to as, "the thinking man's epic." For all the
scenes of battle and violence, Spartacus is essentially a film of ideas.
Though it's kind of interesting to consider the modern-day symbolism of the
dialogue in the film (with its thinly-veiled references to then-controversial
subjects like Communism and homosexuality), the film is most engaging on a
surface level as a story about oppressed people seeking freedom and equality.
The famous "I am Spartacus!" scene remains an iconic and genuinely
moving moment, though this is a result of the hard work put into the hours of
build-up to that scene.

Most period epics made during the '50s and '60s are badly dated to at least
some extent, and this is the case once again in Spartacus (more on this
in a moment). However, the strength of the performances goes a long way toward
overcoming these problems. Kirk Douglas is a sturdy, steady lead throughout,
blending his natural movie star charisma with an understated strength. Laurence
Olivier and Charles Laughton seem right at home with this sort of material,
turning in reliably convincing performances. However, the movie is nearly stolen
by Peter Ustinov, whose deviously playful and inventive supporting turn is a
constant source of entertainment (Ustinov deservedly won an Oscar for the
part).

Now, most of you reading this review are probably curious to know about the
transfer and the supplemental material. The film was restored by Robert Harris
in 1991, which added in lost scenes and cleaned up the image a great deal. This
restored version was given a magnificent release by the Criterion Collection a
few years ago, which boasted a very strong standard-def transfer and an
excellent batch of supplements that detailed the film's making and put certain
elements into context quite nicely. This was followed by a widely panned HD-DVD
release, which was largely criticized for its terrible transfer (I have not seen
the HD-DVD release, though I have seen the Criterion version). From what I've
read and heard from numerous sources, this Blu-ray release is an improvement on
the HD-DVD, though that's not to say the disc is problem-free.

The coloring seems ever-so-slightly different on this disc (a bit more
reddish at times), which is only troubling because Harris considers the
Criterion release to be an accurate representation of what he intended. To my
eyes, the film still looks quite natural and good. The biggest issue is the
moderate use of DNR, which occasionally gives the characters a slightly plastic
look and prevents detail from being as strong as it ought to be. While it's not
the worst instance of DNR I've ever seen, I definitely would have preferred a
more natural look. Things are stronger on the audio side of things, as Alex
North's aggressive, strikingly modern score (employing far more atonal elements
than, say, a Miklos Rozsa score would) comes through with strength and clarity.
Most of the dialogue sounds pretty clean and clear, if sort of inconsistent when
veering between dubbed and non-dubbed dialogue. The 5.1 mix tends to be pretty
front-heavy, but I find it a generally satisfying mix.

The most disappointing factor is the thin supplemental package, a far cry
from the awesome Criterion release. You get brief archival interviews with Peter
Ustinov and Jean Simmons, a handful of re-edited scenes, a vintage "Behind
the Scenes at Gladiator School" (5 minutes) featurette, and a few very
short vintage newsreel clips. Finally, you get some image galleries and the disc
is equipped with BD-Live. A very underwhelming package, I must say.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

In this post-Gladiator era, those super-short tunics sure do look
awfully silly, don't they? The film falls prey to some of the pitfalls of the
genre, at times insisting on making sure the actors look more like movie stars
than like authentic citizens of ancient Rome. This is particularly problematic
when it comes to Jean Simmons, whose radiant hair and make-up contrasts
laughably with the tattered rags she wears. The film expects us to believe that
she's a beaten-down woman who spends her night providing sexual pleasure to
other slaves, but her appearance suggests class and elegance.

Closing Statement

Spartacus is a thoughtful, engaging epic that still holds up pretty
will despite its dated elements. The Blu-ray release is kind of mediocre. I
suppose it's an acceptable way to check out the film if you haven't seen it, but
I can't recommend an upgrade if you own the Criterion release (in fact, there's
a part of me that thinks the standard-def Criterion set is still the superior
option). Here's hoping this title eventually gets the proper deluxe edition
treatment it deserves.

The Verdict

The film is not guilty, but the disc is lacking the qualities this
prestigious film demands.